Prediction: Liverpool vs Newcastle

29th December 2011

After missing a chance to get closer to their top 4 rivals against Blackburn, Liverpool have another opportunity to improve on their home record and stay in the race for Champions League places. Newcastle ended the six-match winless run with an impressive away victory over Bolton, so they certainly enter this game in better spirits than their opponents.

Even if Liverpool cannot be considered genuine title contenders this season, everybody can see that the Reds have shown a lot of improvement this term. The Reds have already beaten the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea away, while sharing spoils with the Manchester rivals at Anfield, thus proving that they have what it takes to fight with the best Premier League sides. Their performances on the travels are especially encouraging, with 5 wins from 9 away games the record worthy of title contenders. However, Kenny Dalglish’s side have largely struggled at their Anfield, allowing relegation strugglers Sunderland, Norwich, Swansea and Blackburn to come away with one point each, and it is the under-par displays at their home ground that are likely to cost them dearly come end of the season. After failing to beat poor Blackburn the Reds have no choice but to try and record a win over Newcastle, but that is easier said than done. The good news is that Steven Gerrard returned into action after two months and he is in contention for starting places, but Luis Suarez serves a one-match ban for improper conduct in the Fulham game.

St James Park was a busy place in the summer, as Newcastle chiefs decided to rebuild the squad after what was a pretty good season, but the risk they took is already paying off. While selling important players Jose Enrique, Kevin Nolan and Wayne Routledge, the Magpies took a real gamble with Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba and Gabriel Obertan, but the new signings soon proved to be key elements of the very successful Premier League campaign. Demba Ba, who arrived on free transfer from West Ham, proved to be a great solution for team’s scoring problems, having bagged 14 goals in 17 league games, whereas the French duo added a lot of quality to the creative department. With Krul, Coloccini and Tiote also on top of their game, Newcastle enjoyed a remarkable start to the season, although they did suffer a big dip in form of late. Nonetheless, the 2:0 away win over Bolton helped the players restore some of the lost confidence, so the Magpies will fancy their chances against underperforming Liverpool. Alan Pardew will have Davide Santon and Dan Gosling back to the side, but Peter Lovenkrands, Steven Taylor and Danny Guthrie remain sidelined.

Conclusion

Liverpool have no choice but to attack their opponents from the off as they desperately need a win here, whereas we can also expect a positive approach from Newcastle, seeing that the Magpies are full of confidence after the great first part of the season. Therefore, backing both teams to score looks like the right choice here.

Verdict: Both teams to score

Best Odds: 1/1

Bookmaker: William Hill